In a submission to a conference organised by Berghof and GTF last month, Tamil civil society actors from the North-East advocated for a "referendum wherein the Tamil people could freely express their aspirations for a political solution", after an outline of a proposal for a political solution is drafted from a bottom-up process, echoing work done by the Scottish Constitutional Convention which eventually led to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

Writing in the Times of India, Frances Harrison told of how recent flooding in Mullivaikal has exposed skulls and human remains from the final killing fields, where civilains were slaughtered in 2009, according to reports.

Activists from Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam in India have protested against Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Tirupathi, picketing an express train leaving from Puducherry.

Tamil Member of Parliament Sritharan has rebuffed claims made by Australian politicians last week that Sri Lanka was safe for Tamils and the reasons for the rise in asylum seekers were “economic and lifestyle”.

Speaking on Melbourne radio 3CR, Sritharan said,

“I am very hurt by Julie Bishop’s false claims. Spreading lies with no conscience about a race that is being wiped out saddened us. We feel we have been deceived,”

Having met with the Australian delegation as they toured the island, Sritharan went on to say,

“I felt Julie Bishop and her colleagues were taking sides with the Sri Lankan Government. They did not care about Tamil grievances. The actions of people like Julie Bishop hurts us.”

“Many people who have been deported back from Sri Lanka are spending time in jails. They asked for names but I could not provide them at the time. When I asked them whether they could guarantee the lives of these young men, Julie Bishop shook her head and said we can’t guarantee anyone’s life. So we could not talk about issues certain individuals faced. It hurts us to know that they haven’t understood the sufferings of our people,”

“When they visited Tamil areas, they did not speak to any of the Tamil civilians. The people were too scared because the army and intelligence people surrounded them.”

“Thousands of Tamil youth are rotting in jails. Sri Lankan Army is everywhere. We have Sri Lankan intelligence roaming around everywhere. Even two days ago on Sri Lanka’s independence day (which Tamils mourn) Tamils were forced to hoist the Lion flag on their houses. When a flag accidentally fell down from a house, they beat up the house owner.”

“Tamils can’t live peacefully here. This why Tamils flee to places like Australia.”

Earlier, Australian opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison denied ongoing human rights abuses on the island stating,

“We didn’t hear of on-going Tamil abuse by the Sinhalese, that’s the point... The most important thing is to beef up the capacity of Sri Lanka to ensure they (the boats) don't get within a few hundred nautical miles of Australia".

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary has dismissed a warning by a Canadian minister that there might be a revival of “radicalisation by the diaspora”.

The Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney made the comments in Ontario last week, adding that he found the political situation was deteriorating and he had shared his views with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In an open letter to the Commonwealth Heads of Government, Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director, urged that the choice of Sri Lanka as the venue for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) be changed given the state's failure to achieve meaningful progress five benchmarks outlined in an open letter late last year. 

The circulation manager of Jaffna newspaper ‘Thinakkural’ was hospitalised after being assaulted by a gang of motorcyclists early on Wednesday morning.

46-year-old Sivagurunathan Sivakumar was followed by six individuals, all with their faces covered by helmets, on three motorbikes as he was doing his daily distribution rounds in Jaffna.

Sivakumar recalls being overtaken and stopped by one motorbike, punched in the face by one individual and beaten with metal poles and clubs by the others.

Sivakumar’s motorcycle and the bundles of newspapers which he had been transporting were then set alight by the attackers.

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) condemned the ‘barbaric’ and ‘malicious’ assault.

In a statement released in Tamil on Thursday, the TNPF said:

 “Last month, a distribution worker for Uthayan was attacked in this same style... These attacks have been carried out by forces with no respect for democracy - anti-democratic forces incapable of engaging in discussions and instead trust in cultures of violence and murder."

The British Tamils Forum said this week it deplores the statement by the UK’s Minister in charge for Sri Lanka, Rt Hon Alistair Burt, in which he suggested that the island’s conflict has ended.

The BTF’s statement follows:

On his highly controversial trip to Sri Lanka, Minister Burt is seen giving an interview on the beaches of Mullivaikkal, with John Rankin, the British High commissioner in Sri Lanka, in which he repeatedly states that the conflict has ended in Sri Lanka.

[See the full interview here.]

Mullivaikal, a coastal village in the north east corner of the Island of Sri Lanka was where over 40,000 Tamils were massacred in just the final few days of the war in 2009. Gordon Weiss, a UN spokesman during the war described this as the "Srebrenica Moment".

British Tamils Forum’s Parliamentary Coordinator Nad Mylvaganam conveying the feelings of the Tamil people said

“The insensitivity at the choice of the place for his interview and the manner in which he refers to the conflict as a thing of the past, has incensed Tamil people who are still mourning their loved ones massacred on those beaches. Minister Burt’s untimely visit undermines the efforts of Human Rights defenders who are working hard to hold the regime to account.”

Sri Lanka’s garment industry is losing market share in its key export destinations, the US and the EU, to its competitors from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia, according to a report by the Colombo-based Institute of Policy Studies.

"Despite considerable increases in absolute export earnings to both and US and EU markets, it is of concern to note that Sri Lanka’s relative market share in garment exports has been losing ground. The increase in export earnings over the years has been due largely to a shift in Sri Lankan garment exports from the US to EU," the IPS said in its report, ‘Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2012’.

"Sri Lanka has been seeing a steady decline in its market share in the US from 2.3 percent in 2005 to 1.8 percent in 2011. Sri Lanka has been losing out to countries such as Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia. Pakistan’s share in the US apparel market was significantly below that of Sri Lanka in 2005 at 1.8 percent, but is now ahead at 2.1 percent. Diversification of its product range, marketing and large investments in value-added sectors including sewing machines, stitching, knitting, finishing and knitting processing have contributed towards Pakistan’s progress,"

"While Sri Lanka has been successful in penetrating the EU market, 2010 and 2011 have seen a marginal decline in the share compared to 2009. Moreover, Sri Lanka is bound to lose its foothold further as the EU GSP Plus concessions eroded. Sri Lanka garment exports will face higher tariffs under the new reforms that would come into effect from 2014. Whereas China and Turkey still account for over half of the garment export share in the EU, Sri Lanka has been losing its market share to competitor countries such as Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Cambodia. Bangladesh has been particularly successful in penetrating the EU market, with an increase of 6.2 percent in 2009 to 11.2 percent in 2011.”

Industry sources said the country was losing around US$ 1 billion each year due to the withdrawal of GSP Plus, said The Island.